Halo: Emerald Eyes
by Auralee
Summary: A Valentine's gift for someone special-Laura recalls someone from her past. Rated for some language. ONESHOT


Hello and Happy Valentine's Day to my faithful readers! I'm doing something a little different this time around, so this one's not going to be my usual BLADE/MC concoction--a Valentine's gift to a special someone. That being said, if you don't like it, don't read it. Flames will be used to make hot chocolate.

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo.

Emerald Eyes

**May 10, 2556**

**Blade's Bunkhouse**

**UNSC Reserve Base Camp Hayes (rebuilt)**

**North America**

"Why Linda?"

The question was completely out of the blue, and Laura found herself doing a double take—nearly cutting a slice off of her own hand in the process. Deciding that now was probably a good time to stop, she set aside the woodblock she'd been carving. "Come again?"

John decided to rephrase his question. "Out of all of us, you bonded with Linda the fastest. Why?"

Laura thought a moment—now that she had discovered her wellspring of memories from several millennia past, it was difficult to sort out her reasons from Alaya's old memories. It didn't help that the real reason had to do with something she had avoided thinking about for a long, long time . "Part of it might have been because she was my closest friend in that other life, when I was Alaya, but I'm not entirely sure, since I had very little knowledge of my past life at that point." She was starting to ramble, and attempted to rein herself in and get to the point. "I think the main reason was a guy I met on base a long time ago."

"A guy?" John looked at her curiously. "Thought Nicole was your only friend around here."

"I had another one at one point. He was a sniper and had green eyes, like Linda." A faint smile graced her lips as she remembered. "And, like her, he was hard not to like. Given time he probably would've pried all my secrets out of me, he was one of those people you could trust with everything." Laura looked away and her shoulders fell, which John had learned was an indication that there were some unhappy memories coming forward.

"Laura, _alaya_, are you ok?" She nodded once.

"I don't like to talk about it much—ONI pulled him to the front lines once they saw we were getting kinda close." She took a deep breath, deciding then and there to tell John about her old friend, Dan Halloran.

********

**August 4, 2532**

**UNSC Reserve Base Camp Hayes**

**North America**

The new guys didn't look like much, to her eyes at least. The scuttlebutt around base said they'd just come back from a Covenant engagement, so that might've had something to do with it. _I wanna know how they survived, personally. Not many Marines face off with the Covenant and live to tell about it._ Taking a few shortcuts, she streaked forward so she could walk ahead of them; since ONI had started spreading rumors about her supposed "treachery", she'd learned that most people would talk about her behind her back, if she were far enough ahead that they thought she wouldn't hear.

"Who's that?" She didn't recognize the voice, and figured it had to be one of the new guys.

"That's Blade, she's one of those Spartans, so they say. Watch yourself around her, I've seen her take out people that just look at her."

"I heard tell she's a traitor, selling us out to the Covenant and the rebels," she heard one of the more loud-mouthed base residents say. _And once again, my hunch pays off,_ she thought sadly. It pained her to think that her own comrades saw her as the enemy.

"If that's the case, then why is she still here and not in lock-up? Something there doesn't sit right." _That's a new voice, and apparently one with a brain attached to it as well. Interesting._

"Supposedly she's got friends in high places who cover for her, plus all those Spartans live above the rules, only answer to ONI. For all we know the spooks are in on it too. Still, everyone knows she's a traitor, and when we get the chance…" _Ok, that's a bit too much._ Stopping cold, she did a perfect about-face and looked the small group behind her dead on. _Gotcha_, she thought grimly as she set her trademark 'death-glare' in place.

"First off, never talk about me where I can hear you, idiot. Though in your case I could probably hear your blabbermouth all the way from the Outer Colonies, if there were any left for me to stand on. Second, get your facts straight before you start blabbing—I am not, nor have I ever been, a traitor, and I have no 'connections' in high places, not that they would do me any good even if I had them. And finally," she drew one of her ever-present knives and ran her thumb along the blade, watching as the faces in front of her paled, "make sure I'm unarmed before you go insulting me. Lucky for you I'm in a relatively pleasant mood. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got better things to do than listen to your rumor mongering." Sliding her knife back into its sheath, she walked back to her bunk, attempting to hide a faint smile: it always amused her to see the shocked looks when people realized she could still hear them. Still, the amusement was tempered by the bitter knowledge of how people saw her; knowing that she was only a few steps above a traitor in their minds stuck in her craw.

Later that night, she was carving a cooking spoon for her mother, since the old one had finally given up the ghost a few days ago. She was just putting the finishing touches on the long handle when someone started knocking on her door. Putting down the spoon and pulling one knife as a precaution, she moved to the door and opened it a crack, only to be confronted by the most striking pair of green eyes she'd ever seen.

"You need something?" The question was a tad abrupt, but then again she was forced to be wary nowadays; since ONI had started those rumors about her, there'd been several people trying to 'plug the leak', and she was taking no chances.

"Just wanted to say hi, that's all." The man's voice was smooth, like one of her dad's brandies or an old whiskey, with a hint of country drawl she found oddly comforting. It was also familiar—the voice of the one new Marine who'd found the rumors about her suspicious.

"I find that hard to believe, but since you're new I'm tempted to take you at your word."

"Only tempted?" _This guy's smooth, probably fancies himself to be quite the lady's man._ Taking a bit of a closer look, she studied the military man in front of her. His uniform had a corporal's stripes on the shoulder, and she saw a ribbon from the Harvest campaign; across the left side of his chest was the name Halloran. Dark brown hair, almost black, covered his scalp, and was just a little bit longer than regulation; matching stubble gave a rugged look to his face, but she swore she caught a glimpse of red winking at her. _Gotta be some Irish blood in there, or I'll eat my boots. _Add to that a friendly smile and those emerald green eyes and she was almost ready to melt. Almost, but not quite.

"Almost no one ever comes here without a reason, and even fewer people come here as friends. Why should you be any different?" She wanted to trust him, especially since it seemed he wasn't on the 'listen-don't-think' bandwagon, but knew better than to let her guard down. _Right when I do, odds are I'm dead_.

"Why not take a chance, Blade? From what I've heard, I'd be no threat even if I had a mind to try something. My specialty's distance, anyway."

"A sniper…that explains a few things. Like why you don't look as scarred up as your compatriots."

"Oh, I have my share of scars, just not where I'd normally display 'em," he smiled. _Nice smile_, she thought, briefly allowing the flash of appreciation. "Any reason why we're talking through a crack in the door?"

"Mostly because I don't trust the majority of the people on this base nowadays." She eyed him skeptically, but he only chuckled.

"Can't say I blame you, after what I saw today. But as I said before, I'm no threat. Why not risk it?"

She hesitated a moment, then let him in. "By the way, my name's not Blade, it's Laura."

"Dan. Pleasure to meet a pretty face." He flashed that grin again and despite her best efforts she found herself smiling back.

********

**May 10, 2556**

**Blade's Bunkhouse**

**UNSC Reserve Base Camp Hayes (rebuilt)**

**North America**

"He dropped by as often as he could after that. We chatted a lot, compared notes on shooting techniques, and over time we got really close. He was one of those people that it was hard not to like." Tears were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes.

"What happened?" John placed one hand on her shoulder; Laura moved closer to him and took a deep breath, trying to gain some control over herself.

"We…we got really close, almost as close as you and I are now." Laura saw the understanding dawn in his eyes. "ONI finally decided we'd gotten _too_ close, and sent him as far away from me as possible. I cried for about a month when he left, felt like some part of me had been ripped away. " She felt the tears spill over, wet trails sliding down her cheeks, and heard her voice cracking. Drawing her sleeve over her face, Laura wiped her tears away. "They say you never forget your first love, and they're right. It…I felt exactly like this when they transferred him out. I never knew what happened to him, and I couldn't bring myself to search the networks to see if he was still alive. It hurt too much. Hell, it still hurts, just not nearly as bad as it used to." She took a few breaths, moving her old grief aside and reminding herself where she was and what she had.

"I'm sorry…" John began, but Laura put her fingers to his lips, silencing him.

"Don't be. What's done is done, and I wouldn't change it if I could. Because if I did, I wouldn't have you, now would I?" She tapped one finger on the tip of his nose. "I love you, and I'm not going anywhere else. This is where I belong."

Somewhere else on the planet, quietly sipping a glass of whiskey, Commander Dan Halloran let his thoughts drift back to the SPARTAN-II he'd met after one of his many missions against the Covenant. _Laura, that was her name_, he remembered. They'd gotten to be close friends, even lovers, at least until ONI stepped in and yanked him away to a base on Jericho VIII. True, he'd had other lady companions before and after, but she'd been one-of-a-kind, the only one for him for the longest time.

"Dan? Are you alright?" a musical voice reached his ears, and he looked up to see his wife standing in the doorway. Like Laura, she had brown hair and brown eyes, but that's where the physical resemblance ended—she was shorter, wore silver glasses, and was nowhere near as slender or deadly. She had the same spirit, though, which had caught his attention instantly.

"No, Liz, nothing at all," he answered, standing up and hugging her, holding her close to him as if he were afraid she'd vanish. Elizabeth Halloran smiled, and he found himself glad to have her in his life. Laura was his past, Liz was his future, and life couldn't be better.

**_*Dedicated to my wonderful fiancé, Daniel--bless him for putting up with me and my crazy ideas.*_**


End file.
